Chapter 307 Faith and Faith

"...Maximilian has personally joined the fighting at the front."

At Prozen's wartime cabinet meeting, a facial composite lay on the table shared by the ministers, the Chief of General Staff, and the commanders of each branch.

Maximilian Ebenholtz.

The face of the man who had trampled Bolska's capital at the presidential palace.

"Could the witness have been mistaken?"

"The soldier's from the countryside. They only knew Maximilian's name to begin with, not his face."

A soldier who had never even seen his photograph in the newspaper had produced this likeness from memory alone.

"..."

"..."

Silence settled over them.

They felt a measure of fear. Fear of Maximilian himself.

They were not supposed to fear the enemy, but...

His military achievements were extraordinary. And nothing seemed to slow his advance.

He had broken through Yursled's fortress line in a day and swept up Bolska in an instant.

As a knight of the Empire, he had brought the east under control the moment the Emperor gave him the authority.

...Had that been all, he would have been just one man.

Had his talent been limited to fighting, he would have disappeared someday.

But Maximilian had reformed the institution of knighthood. He was the one who had raised the knights' domain to the skies. He was also the one who had rewritten the doctrines of the army, navy, and air force.

"Why did he go out of his way to leave those soldiers alive?"

"...Wasn't it a warning?"

"He doesn't kill prisoners. Executing an opponent who can no longer resist isn't becoming of a noble..."

For a while, no one spoke.

It was winter.

The bitter cold had brought the war to a temporary halt, but it was only a delay.

Someday, Maximilian would come for us.

He would certainly turn his sights on the west.

"Ahem."

Someone cleared their throat in the silence.

"...We need someone."

Professor Jean Pierre, seated beside the Chief of General Staff, had found the courage to speak. He was the only person there who was not in the military.

"Someone?"

"Yes. The proper way to counter a person is with another person."

The greater the scale of a war, the more an individual's ability mattered.

A gesture from one person could move tens of thousands, and kill tens of thousands more.

"Colonel Garnier."

Jean Pierre had searched through Prozen's past war records, military academy results, and promotion reviews. He had then visited the candidates in person and interviewed them before making his choice.

"A veteran of the Western War who continues to win victories at the front."

To face a talent like Maximilian, they needed someone at least close to his level.

Somehow, they had to find that person.

* * *

Snow fell over the mansion.

Rustle.

Seated in my study, I turned a page.

Rustle.

The "forms" of certain creatures, painted in oils.

Rustle.

Izenheim mutants that it was still too early to name.

Rustle.

There were so many varieties.

From Kaven, whom I had slaughtered in the casino, to the latest addition, the stake unit.

A creature like a fungal network, with one connecting all the others. Unless that one died, the rest would revive endlessly.

"Hmm."

It almost brought back the sensation of cutting them down.

"Well drawn."

I nodded in satisfaction.

"You've captured their alien way of handling mana very well."

Filty sat across from me.

"..."

She stared hard at me.

It was funny, like a herbivore trying to threaten me.

"As I said, I won't force my beliefs on you."

Faith grew from within. It was not planted from outside.

"But I do have a request. Keep following me, just as you have been."

Belief forced on someone was nothing more than obedience.

"If you keep following me, you'll understand someday too."

Filty watched me for a while.

"...If, by some chance..."

At last, she spoke.

"Even if everything you've said is true, there's one thing I can't accept."

I tilted my head, inviting her to continue.

Krrk.

Filty clenched her teeth.

"Why you?"

Why should it be me?

I did not answer.

"Why did it have to be..."

I smiled.

A heavy sigh escaped me.

"...Who knows?"

Without warning, my true feelings slipped out.

"I don't know either."

They really were my true feelings.

"Why did it have to be me?"

It was a question even I sometimes could not let go.

"Why not you people..."

Why not Sebastian?

Why not the Emperor of this Empire?

"Why did this duty fall to me?"

I looked at Filty. Her eyes were unchanged. She still looked at me as though I were mentally ill. But doubt and confusion lingered at the edges.

Fortunately, her disbelief was no longer directed only at me.

"...Filty. Could you have done it?"

A cold tremor touched my lips. I looked at Filty's tiny body.

"You couldn't have. You would've cried forever. You would've denied yourself endlessly."

Her little chin jutted out as though she were angry.

In contrast, I sank into complete indifference.

She asked in return,

"...So you're doing it for us? And we're supposed to thank you?"

"No."

I shook my head with a quiet laugh.

"I've decided not to hope for that sort of 'understanding' anymore."

The moment I hoped for human warmth, I would lose.

"..."

Filty stared deep into me.

I was glad to see those eyes trying to look inside me. Glad that she was at least willing to "think about" my deranged words.

"...Haha."

I burst out laughing.

* * *

Schweitzer received a map of the Mekken Mountains.

It was nearing completion under the strictest secrecy.

Instead of contour lines, it showed the ranges where anomalies lived. Instead of roads, dotted lines marked the Yaken's scouting routes.

An ordinary soldier would not even recognize it as a map.

That was how thoroughly Mekken was considered "not a route."

Even if they deliberately leaked this plan, the enemy would dismiss it as a diversion, saying, "Those Imperial idiots. Who do they think they're fooling?"

In the enemy's eyes, the best route was through Zerpha, or through several small and medium-sized countries in the north, after conquering them.

The idea of taking armored units across Mekken was completely insane.

But Schweitzer trusted his own ability.

Above all, I trust Maximilian, who trusted me.

Someone who trusted and supported an unprecedented operation simply because it was "me."

Of course, Schweitzer could not do this alone. His relationships were such a disaster that he had no generals willing to make the crossing with him.

He needed a few more people worth bringing into his camp.

"That bastard Elvin would be good at this..."

From now on, then, it was up to him.

To win them over, Schweitzer was ready to suppress his own temperament.

"...I'm looking forward to spring."

Schweitzer trembled with excitement.

A man was meant to die for someone who recognized his worth.

Even if he died without seeing the end of this war, the life about to unfold before him would be one without regrets.

...

Tiana sat facing her father in the western Frontline Imperial Guard commander's office.

"Thank you."

Her father smiled. He meant that he had earned military honors thanks to his daughter.

Even so, Tiana forced her expression to remain stern.

"...Why did you want to come back so badly?"

Her father did not answer immediately. He sighed softly and ran a hand through his hair.

"Ambition and revenge, I suppose."

"...Revenge?"

"On the bastards who pushed me out with mere political games."

Tiana's face hardened. For a moment, she looked at her father through unfocused eyes.

His leg was stiff, forcing him to use a cane, and his right eye barely moved.

The stress of that day had left half his body damaged.

Tiana sighed.

"If you'd just waited, I could've done everything for you."

"..."

"The family, everything. I'm the knight now, and the head of the family. There's no need for you to put yourself through this here."

Her father gave a bitter smile. It probably did not mean he agreed.

Even so, Tiana could not win against him. She knew how hard he had worked for her, almost to the point of death.

"...Since I'm here, let's at least eat together."

Tiana gave up trying to persuade him.

Instead, she set the lunch she had packed at home on his desk.

...

Shuffle, shuffle.

Snow fell in Yursled. Ezel Runselot watched the scene at a checkpoint.

There was a "line." Hundreds of people stood shivering in the snow, holding family registers.

At the end waited a desk, the Imperial Guard, and a stamp.

"Occupation?"

At the Imperial Guard member's question, the applicant answered,

"I'm a carpenter. Here..."

They handed over a resume.

Thump!

A blue stamp landed in their booklet, and they left the Zone.

Next.

"Occupation?"

"I... I'm a musician. The violin..."

"Next."

"The most famous competition in the east..."

"Next!"

The musician had no choice but to return and shiver in the cold.

This was where skilled workers useful to the Empire were selected from the Zone.

Metalworkers, carpenters, tailors, and miners could work in warm factories and receive rations.

Those who were not chosen could only freeze and starve inside the Zone.

Rainer Wolf treated the people of Yursled fairly enough, but he was still far too harsh toward subspecies.

"Hey. Abel."

Somewhere in the middle of the line, an elderly person whispered to the person ahead.

"Say you're a metal polisher. Take this."

The elderly person handed their own papers to the young person.

When the recipient looked startled, they smiled, saying that Abel had a child to raise.

"..."

Watching them from a distance, Ezel murmured,

"...Is this the world you wanted?"

The image of a blond man flickered hazily before her eyes.

Tap.

Suddenly, a pebble rolled to her feet.

She slowly turned.

"A pleasure to meet you."

A face emerged from the shadows of the alley the pebble had come from.

An ordinary face, the sort she might have seen anywhere.

"I'm Remil."

Rather than invoking the grand name of the Revolutionary Faction, the person introduced themself as nothing more than a contact.

"I'm Lise."

Ezel hid her real name as well.

She was a child of House Runselot, but her face was not as famous as Max's.

The other person gave a small laugh.

"You don't have to hide who you are."

Then they held something out.

"What you asked for."

Ezel had asked them for information that would help her decide where she stood.

"It's something currently circulating within the Imperial Guard."

It was a scroll. Some kind of information would be written inside.

First, Ezel asked,

"Are you in the Imperial Guard?"

"I'm close to them."

Then she silently unrolled the scroll and looked inside.

"..."

Ezel's hands shook.

It was a blueprint.

What sort of facility it depicted... was difficult even to explain.

"...Really? Like this?"

"Yes."

Ezel gave a hollow laugh.

"I find that hard to believe."

"...I understand. Tens of thousands are already dying without them going to the trouble of building such a facility."

Ezel's gaze wandered. She looked again at the people standing outside.

"But the Emperor wants them exterminated. To put such care into killing fellow human beings..."

Remil's voice trailed off. Ezel rolled the scroll up by hand.

The contact spoke again.

"Of course, we don't force anyone to believe us. You can go and see the Camp yourself. It won't be too late even then. But burn that scroll."

Remil pulled their hat down, turned, and left.

After burning the scroll with a lighter, Ezel also went elsewhere.

The governor's residence in Yursled.

"Ah. You're back. How was your outing?"

Rainer Wolf smiled at her from the lobby.

Had he been waiting all this time?

"I enjoyed it. The scenery's lovely, just as I'd heard."

Ezel answered naturally.

Acting as though nothing was wrong, she slipped in a request.

"But could I ask you for one thing... No, two things?"

"Requests?"

Rainer tilted his head. It did not look like a refusal.

"Yes. I'd like to tour the Camp."

* * *

Winter continued. Before my regression, this bitter cold would have frozen the tears of everyone in the land.

In this life, the Empire remained steady. It had prepared in advance.

But hunger, famine, and epidemics spread through the Izenheim Zones in the east. I received the pleasant news that tens of thousands of Izenheim had starved or frozen to death.

The Mer Zones, by contrast, were relatively mild. Halbert Goring's factories, his food processing operations, and the supply routes I had set up in advance protected them through the winter.

I supported the Mer through 「Master」's accounts. Of course, some of that might reach the Izenheim, but that was not a bad thing.

I could trace the money that reached them and kill them.

But how long could this continue?

My "selective protection" was entirely different from the Emperor's "total extermination."

Suddenly, I wondered about the dream the Emperor claimed to have had.

The Emperor had planned all of this because of a "dream."

Had that dream been nothing more than a chance occurrence in his brain?

Or...

Had the Emperor also seen fragments of the future, as I had?

These thoughts had been troubling me lately.

If regressors existed, seers could easily exist too.

"Sir Maximilian. Ezel Runselot has requested a tour of the Camp."

Then one day, in the Sentinel office, I received that news.

"A tour..."

Ezel wanted to tour the Camp. It could have been an ordinary piece of news.

No, I would have nodded without giving it much thought.

If I had been the person I was before my regression.

"Will that be all right?"

The person who had passed on her news asked me.

"...That's fine, Sir Rainer."

Rainer Wolf. He was a rational man. Even among the Imperial Guard, he was unusually driven by calculation and reason.

Above all, he knew how to remain neutral.

I could see it simply from the way he told me about Ezel without adding some unnecessary remark about how she had "almost become my fiancée."

"What was Ezel's second request?"

"Ah. The second was nothing much. She asked me to hire a musician for the governor's residence. She said musicians were skilled workers too, in their own way, and that music would enhance the governor's authority."

Rainer's report was dry. He conveyed only the facts, exactly as they were.

"I see."

Lately, my opinion of Rainer had been changing. He might be easier to handle than Grossmann or Himmler.

Of course, Rainer might consider me a rival, but he was someone I could eliminate or keep alive whenever I wished.

"Thank you for letting me know."

"Should I keep following her?"

"No. I'll go there myself in a few weeks."

The Camp in Yursled. I intended to visit the same place Ezel would be touring.

"But please keep it strictly confidential. These days, anywhere I say I'm going turns into an uproar."

"Yes. Understood. I'll keep it to myself."

We understood each other.

Perhaps that was inevitable, since I was acting like a war criminal.

Rainer, unusually rational even among war criminals, might be the same sort of person as me.

"That's all, then."

Click.

I hung up. I gazed quietly out the window at the snow-covered Empire.

I murmured,

"...Trying hard to hide something doesn't make it cease to exist."

Trying hard to reject it did not mean it would not happen.

Ezel was the woman I had once loved, and the friend to whom I was most grateful, who had saved my life before my regression.

But how much could I cut away for my purpose, for humanity's survival?

No matter how hard I tried to hide it or reject it, now, at last...

The time had come to test myself.